Washing machine



' 7 1,453,606 A. H. SACKSTEDER WASHING MACHINE Filed Feb. 15 1922 3Sheets-Sheet 1 INVII'TIVVTOR. I acks mix/2f def and

) ATTORN- May 1, 1923. 1,453,606

A. H. SACKSTEDER I WASHING MACHINE Filed Feb.

ATTORNEYS.

a Shts-Sheet 5v ANDREW HQSACKSTEDEIRL; OF TIFFIN, OHIO.

WASHING MACHINE.

Application filed February 15, 1922. Serial No. 536,771.

To all whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW I-"I. SACKS- TEDER, a: citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Tifiin, in the county of vSeneca and State of Ohio,have invented. certain new and useful Improvements inxlVashing Machines,of which the following is a specifica- :tion.

within a plurality oftubs successively without removing the clothes fromthe container. Other objects of the inventionwill appear in the courseof t e following description,

and the invention resides 'in certain .novel' I features which will beparticularly pointed out in the claims following the description.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of one embodimentof the invention;

Fig. 2 isa View, partly in side elevation and partly in verticalsection, of the apparatus. shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the driving mechanism, the cover ofthe casing being removed;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the driving mechanism;

Figs. 5 and 6 are, respectively, a horizontal section and a verticalsection taken longitudinally of another form of driving gearing.

In carrying out the invention, I employ a supporting frame 1 whichincludes legs 2 disposed at the corners of the supporting frame wherebyto maintain the same in substantially horizontal position. The legs areconnected by a-shelf or brace 3 upon which an electric motor 4 issecured, current being supplied to the motor from any convenient source.The frame 1 comprises a plurality of rings 5 having outstanding flanges6 and adapted to receive tubs 7, the

tubs being equipped upon their sides with collars or flanges 8 restingupon the flanges 6 of the rings 5 so that they will be effectuallysupported. The several rings 5 of the frame are connected by a centralbrace or platform 9 which is constructed with a sleeve 10 formingabearing for the main driving shaft 11, the lower end of said shaft beingfitted in astep bearing 12 on the shelf 3, as clearly'shown in Fig. 2.The shaft of the motor 4 is equipped at its inner end with a beveledpinion 13 meshing with a beveled pinion 14 fixed upon the shaft 11 sothat the said shaft will be rotated directly by the motor, and,-at apoint above the plane of the tops of the tubs, a beveled gear 15 issecured upon the main driving shaft and is adapted to mesh with similargears 16 carried by shafts 17 which extend into gear casings 18 disposedon prolongations of the radii of the driving shaft 11 and arranged toextend radially over the respective tubs. In the bottom of each gearcasing, at the outer end thereof, is journaled a spindle 19 which hassecured to its lower end a spider 20 from which a reticulated basket orclothes container 21 depends, the spider and the-basket being of lessdiameter than the tubs so that they may fit concentrically within a tuband rotate easily therein. A cover 22 is secured to the spindle 19 justbelow the gear casing 18 and is adapted to fit closely within the tuband be removed therefrom with the spindle and the basket as willpresently more fully appear, Near the Outer'end of the gear casing, apartition 23 is provided therein and this partition has a car edge 24:

formed thereon and disposed concentrically with the spindle 19 anditsbearing. A beveled pinion 25 is feathered upo the spindle 19 andrests upon the bearin pinion 26 on the outer end of a shaft 27 which isdisposed in axial alinement with the'shaft- 17and is journa-led in thelower portion of the partition 23, asshown in Fig. 4. A clutch coupling28 is fitted upon the adjacent ends -of the shafts l7 and 27 andconstitutes a connection between the same so that the shaft 27 may be"driven directly from'the shaft 17 at a high speed or may be drivenindirectly therefrom at a lower speed. J ournaled in the inner end ofthe gear casing 18 vertically above the shaft 17 is a shaft 29, andjournaledin the partition 23 vertically above the shaft 27' is a shaft30 which is alined axially with the shaft 29, a

for

.said spindle, said pinion meshing with a 29 and 30 in the sameniannergthat the clutch 28 connects the shafts 17 and 27.

Upon the shaft 17 within the gear casing is secured a gear 32 whichmeshes with a gear 33 secured upon the shaft 29 and upon the shaft 27adjacent the partition 23 is secured a gear 34 meshing with a gear 35secured upon the shaft 30. The clutch couplings 28 and 31 are providedexteriorly with annular grooves 36 which are engaged by forks 37 carriedby a lever 38 provided with a handle member 39 extending through theside of the gear casing. The lever is so disposed thatthe'clutchcouplings 28 and 31 will be moved in opposite directions simultaneouslyand when the said couplings are in vertical alinement the several shaftswill be disconnected so 'that no motion will be imparted to the shaft27. If the lower clutch coupling 28 be closed, the shafts 17 and 27 willbe coupled and the shafts 28 and 30 uncoupled so that motion will thenbe imparted to the shaft 27 directly from the shaft 17 and this motionwill be transmitted .through the gears 26 and 25 to the spindle shaft 27and said shaft 27 will then rotate at a lower speed, the spindle 19being, of

'' course, given a lower speed.

Secured to the shaft 19, above the gear 25, is a collar 40 having anexternal projection upon which is carried a roller 41. The roller 41travels'upon the cam surface 24 of the partition 23 and, consequently,as the spindle 19 is rotated it is also moved vertically so that thebasket 21 will be raised and lowered and the clothes within the basketthereby moved vertically through the water and cleansingagent within thetub as well as rotated therein and the entire surfaces ofthe clotheswill be subjected to the washing action. Above the collar 40, a hub orcollar 42is fitted upon the spindle 19 and this hub or collarconstitutes a support for roller bearings 43 which may be of anywell-known form. Pivoted to the lever 38 and slidably mounted in the append of the partition 23 is a locking fork 4 j which will be projectedoutwardly when the clutch couplings are shifted so as to drive,. theshaft 27 at the higher speed. If, when the spindle 19 has been raised toits highest level by the 'travel of the roller 41 upo the cam edge 24 ofthe partition, the clu ch couplings be shifted, the fork 44 will engage'under the projection 42 and will thereby holdthe same vat rest so thatthe spindle and the basket carried thereby will be supported in the.high position. If the motor be then started, the basket will be rotatedat a high speed above the level of the water in the tub and the loosewater upon the clothes will be thrown off by centrifugal action.

Upon the inner ends of the gear casings, at the upper and lower cornersthereof, are lugs or projections 45 and 46 and through the saidprojections extend vertically disposed rods 47 and 48, the rods 48 beingthreadedand equipped at their upper ends with hand wheels 49. The lugs45 and 46 engaged by the threaded rods are, of course, provided withinternally threaded bores so that, when the threaded rods are rotated,the gear casings will be caused to move vertically. The extremities ofthe rods 47 and 48 are journaled in bearing blocks'50 which are looselyfitted about the main driving shaft 11 and held against dropping thereonby any convenient means, such as a stop collar 51. If the threaded rods48 be rotated 'in the proper direction through manipulation of therespective hand wheels 49, the gear casings will be caused to moveupwardly and the pinions 16 will be raised out of mesh with the drivingpinion 15, as will be readily understood. The basket 21 will, of

course, be withdrawn from the tub in which it has operated and the cover22 will be likewise removed from said tub. The gear casing, the basketand the parts. associated therewith may then be swung about the maindriving shaft 11 as a center and the basket then lowered into an adjacentub, it being noted, upon reference to the d awings: that, in-theparticular embodiment of the invention illustrated, there are three tubsand two baskets and trains of gearing for operating the baskets. Thisarrangementv permits the several steps in the washing and drying'of theclothes to be performed in series so that the baskets or clothescontainers may be successively operated within a tub and one within thebleaching tub, while the final drying tub is not in use. When theclothes have been sufficiently agitated within the tubs in which theyare deposited in the illustrated arrangement, the clothescontaincontainer is operating within the washing ers are lifted and thenshifted pivotally so that the tub which is illustrated as-not in usewill be occupied by the container holding the clothes which have beensubjected to the action of the bleaching agent, and rotation of saidontainer will then drive off the, moisture from said clothes. Theclothes may then be removedfrom the container for further drying throughexposure to the sun or the action of other heat, and if the containersbe then again raised and shifted pivotally, the empty container will bein position to receive a second quantity of clothing tn be washed. Theoperation may be repeated in a continuous cycle until all of the clotheson hand have been run through the apparatus and cleaned. y

In Figs. 5 and 6, I have illustrated a form of gearing. which maysometimes be preferred. In this arrangement, the main driving shaft ismounted in the same manner as the shaft 11 and may be driven from anelectric motor or other prime mover. Above the supporting frame, thesaid shaft 55 is equipped with a beveled gear 56 meshing with a beveledgear 57 on the inner end of a shaft 58 which is journaled in the innerend of a gear casing 59, the said gear casing ex tending over the tubin'the same manner that the gear casings 18 extend over the same. Thegear casings 59 are fitted to guide rods 60 and adjusting rods 61 whichcorrespond in all respects to the rods 47 and 48 in the previouslydescribed arrangement Upon that end of the shaft 58 which is disposedwithin the gear casing, is slidably fitted a friction pinion 62 which isconstrained to rotate with said shaft and said friction pinion bearsagainst the face of a friction transmission pulley 63 which is carriedby a shaft 64 journaled in the side wall of the gear case 59, a spring65, coiled about the shaft 64 between the side of'the gear case and theouter face of the pulley 63, serving to hold'the pulley constantly in'engagement with the pinion 62 and a similar friction pinion 66. Thefriction pinion 66 is slidably mounted upon a shaft 67 which is alinedaxially with the shaft 58 andjs journaled in the partition 68 near theouter end of the gear casing. The pinions 62 and 66 are constructed withhubs having annular grooves 69 therein and these grooves are engaged byforks 70 at the ends of a link 71, a. handle 72 projecting laterallyfrom the said link through a slot 73 in the side of the gear casing. Itwill be readily understood that the motion of the pinion 62 istransmitted to the pinion 66 through the friction disc or pulley 63 andthe relative speeds 0 the pinions is regulated by shifting them radiallyupon the disc or pulley 63. This shiftingor adjustment of the pinions isaccomplished by moving the link 71 longitudinally of the gear casing inan obviouwpner.' V

v The outer end of the shaft 67 is equipped with a beveledpinion .7 4meshing with a beveled gear 75 which 1 is feathered upon the spindle 76corresponding to the spindle 19 in all respects. The outer edge ofthef'gea'r casing is given a cam formation, as shown at 7 7,

and upon the spindle 76, near the upper end thereof, is secured a collar78 carrying a roller 79 corresponding in all respects to the collar 40,and roller 41, A collar 80 having; a shoulder or projection 81 is fittedupon the spindle-above the collar 78 and, above the said collar 80,roller bearings 82 are'provided upon the spindle. The outer end of thegear case, carries a tubular cover 83 which encloses: the upper portionofthe spindle 7 6, the gears 74 and 75, and the several members 78,79,80, 81 and 82, as clearly shown in Fig. '6. This tubular cover orhousing is equipped with a lid 84 having openings 85 therein throughwhich pass suspending grippers 86 which are adapted to engage under theprojection 81 of the collar 80, as clearly shown in Fig. 6, and therebysupport the spindle and the basket carried thereby in the elevatedposition. The .sus-" .structed with a head 88 and a hub 89,;the

hub 89 being adapted to bear upon the upper extremities of the grippers86 so that if the screw be adjusted downwardly through the lid 84, thepressurethereby exerted upon the upper ends of the grippers will causethem to swing about their respective pivots and move their lower endsoutwardly from under theprojection 81 and permit the spindle and thebasket or clothes container to descend. It will be readily noted t atthe portions-of the grippers below their pivots are much greater thanthe portions above the pivots so that if the screw be adjusted upwardly,the weight of the grippers will cause them to swing into-the positionshown in Fig. 6 and engage under and support the collar 80. The washingmachine equipped with. this form of gearing is operated in the samemanner as the machine previously described to effect cleaning of theclothes, and

it will be readily noted that the apparatus cleaned and dried. It will,of course, be

understood that gas burners or other heaters may be installed under thetubs to maintain the temperature of the liquid therein.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a washmg machine, the combination of a tub, a vertically disposeddriving shaft arranged adjacent the tub, means for rotating said shaft,a gear casing disposed overthe tub, a spindle mounted in and dependingfrom said gear casing, a clothes container carried by said spindlewithin the tub, gearing Within-the gear casing operatively connectingthe driving shaft with said spindle, and means supported on the drivingshaft for raising and lowering the gear casing whereby to remove thespindle and the clothes container from the tub or dispose the spindleand clothes container within the tub.

2 In a Washing machine, the combination of a vertically disposed drivingshaft, a series of tubs disposed concentrically about said shaft, meansfor rotating said shaft, supporting blocks pivotally mounted upon saidshaft, gear casings disposed over the respective tubs and arrangedradially with respect to the driving shaft, clothes containers carriedby the gear casings and adapted to be housed within the respective tubs,gearing within the gear casings operatively connecting said clothescontainers with the driving shaft, projections on the innerends of thegear casings, and guiding and adjusting rods extending verticallythrough said projections and journaled in the supporting blockspivotally-mounted on the driving shaft.

3. In a washing machine, the combination of a tub, a container adaptedto be housed within the tub, a vertically disposed spindle carrying saidcontainer, means for rotating the spindle, a cam concentric with thespindle, a member on the spindle riding on the cam, and means adjacentthe high part of the cam to support the spindle in inoperative relationto the cam. I In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ANDREW M. SACKSTEDER. [L. s.]

